Alek Meets the Sharps
by Winterowl312
Summary: Deryn takes Alek home for Christmas, and naturally, chaos ensues. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**This is my second fan-fiction I've posted and the first for Leviathan. It's post-Goliath and kind of a Christmas-y kind of story. Deryn and Alek may seem out of character at first, but I think I fixed that towards the end.**

**A big thank you to ****Candymydarling**** for reviewing my other Christmas drabble, **_**Christmas in District Twelve**_**. But I realize that I forget to give credit to Suzanne Collins for her Huger Games. Sorry! So I'm doing that here. **

**Obviously I am not Scott Westerfeld, nor and I Suzanne Collins. All characters, settings, etc. belong to them, not me. **

"Do I really have to go?" Deryn asked.

Alek stopped folding clothes long enough to give her an incredulous look. "Well, I should think so. They are your family, after all."

Deryn glared at him. "_Dummkopf, _if you'd met my family, you wouldn't want to come either."

"Well they can't be that bad," Alek said. "And besides, it's only for the weekend. We'll be back in London by New Year's Eve."

Deryn groaned and flopped onto the couch in the common room. Living with a bunch of boffins had its perks, it seemed. "A whole barking weekend," she moaned. "Christmas with the Sharps – it's bound to be an absolute nightmare!"

Alek frowned. "We could always visit my family for Christmas," he offered.

He'd only meant it as a joke, but Deryn didn't seem to take it that way. She sat up on the sofa, a hopeful look in her blue eyes. "You think so?" she asked desperately.

Alek rolled his eyes. "Yeah, why not?" he said sarcastically. "I'm sure my granduncle would love to have me back. You have to go upstairs and get dressed. We're leaving tonight."

Deryn threw a wad of formerly-folded clothes at his head. "Fine," she huffed, while stomping up the stairs to the room. "But there's no way I'm wearing a barking dress."

Alek sighed, but didn't argue. Trying to get Deryn Sharp to wear a dress was probably more dangerous than visiting the Hapsburgs for Christmas.

…

On the ride from the London Zoological Society to the Sharp residence in Glasgow, Deryn briefed Alek on her relatives. "Okay, rule number one: don't eat Ma's fruitcake. I don't care how good Jaspert tells you it is – he's a filthy liar."

Alek nodded as he processed the information. On his shoulder, Bovril chuckled. "Filthy liar," it said. "_Mr_. Sharp."

The two ignored the loris as Deryn continued her list. "Rule number two: don't mention anything about the _Leviathan _while we're here. It'll set the whole family off. Let me deal with Ma.

"Rule number three: it's best just to agree with anything Auntie Clarence says. If she says she's been to the moon, don't argue. She's absolutely bonkers."

And so it continued, until the tigeresque pulling the coach began to slow. Alek's head was swimming with all of the rules Deryn had crammed into his brain in the long ride.

When the fabrication finally stopped in front of a small house, he clutched Deryn's wrist. "I can't do this," he announced frantically.

Deryn laughed grimly. "Too late to change your mind now, your princeliness." She stood up first and stepped out of the carriage first. "It's time for you to meet my family."

**I hope they stayed true to character. If not tell me. Deryn may seem a little girly and compliant at the beginning and Alek a little too…something. I am planning on making this a three part-er. Hopefully, it's be done by Christmas Eve. And there's one more thing:**

**Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please review! **


	2. Just an Update

**Hey. This is just an update, so don't get too excited (or whatever you do when I put up something. Bang your head against a wall, maybe…) but please don't hate me for not posting, either. I have been really busy on break and since school started up, it's been crazy.**

** Anyway, this is just letting you know that I am halfway through the second chapter of **_**Alek Meets the Sharps**_**. It's going to be a long chapter, because I've got to squeeze in a lot of wonderful Sharp family antics (aren't family gatherings great?) in one chapter.**

** Also, I started another story that I haven't titled yet, with own of my OCs, mainly because I was bored and suffering from a serious case of writer's block on this fanfic. I am on the third chapter of that, and will try to get that published here soon. Have to think of a title that doesn't sound completely ridiculous first… **

** If anyone's read The Nine Lives of Chloe King series, the first chapter will kind of have a reference to that in it. But, unfortunately, I left my notebook in my locker again, so that might have to wait until the weekend.**

** So, sorry again. I'll try to get that done before Sunday. Bye everyone. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally! We were never introduced to Mrs. Sharp in the books, so I made her personality up. I imagine it's like a mix of Mrs. Weasley and Mrs. Mellark, so we'll see how this works out. Should be interesting, eh? As before, I am not Scott Westerfeld. His wonderful characters, setting, and just the world of Leviathan in general are just being borrowed by me.**

The porch was completely iced over. Alek was only half listening as Deryn hissed more instructions to him; he was really concentrating more on not slipping down the icy stairs.

Something she said jolted him back to reality. "Alek, hello? Barking spiders, are you even listening to me?" she groaned.

"Sorry, what?" Alek asked distractedly.

Deryn was glaring at him. Alek suddenly realized how stressful this was probably on her. She was finally seeing her family again, after more than a year, and bringing a strange boy with her. Her mother was probably already livid about her running off a year ago, what would they say when she brought a former Clanker prince home?

"I said, remember to –"

She was interrupted by a blonde haired girl who poked her head out of the door. She stared at the couple for a moment, then hastily slammed the door closed, not bothering to introduce herself, invite them in, or even say hello. A second after that, loud cries of "It's Deryn! Deryn's home!" were heard on the other side of the door.

Deryn closed her eyes. "I give up," she muttered.

The door swung open, fully this time, revealing a tall woman with graying hair wearing an apron. "Well," she said, giving Deryn a disapproving look, "I see my daughter's decided to show up, finally."

Alek saw Deryn attempt to smile. "Happy Christmas, Ma," she said weakly.

"Don't you 'Happy Christmas' me, Deryn," Mrs. Sharp snapped. "I am very disappointed in you. Don't you know how much you and your brother scared me that night? I wake up one morning and you both are gone. Not a sign of you! Then I get a letter from Jaspert, two _entire _weeks after you both disappeared, telling me that you ran off to London so you could join _the Air Service_, of all things. So don't you dare 'Happy Christmas' me, lassie. You're in a boatload of trouble."

She seemed to just notice Alek. "And who is this?" she asked, glaring at him.

Alek stepped forward hesitantly. _If all her family's like this, how did she survive all fifteen years? _he asked himself. And another thought answered him, _She didn't. She ran away to London. _ Alek very much wanted to run away at that moment, screaming and crying, anything but spending an entire weekend with Mrs. Sharp.

"Hello, I'm Alek Ferdinand, ma'am," he said timidly. _Please, please let this go quickly._

Her eyes narrowed. "Aye, I've heard that name in the papers quite often lately. You're that Clanker prince, aren't you?"

Alek gulped nervously. "Yes, ma'am. Pleased to meet you." _Not really._

He was worried about where the conversation would go. Thankfully, Deryn saved him. "Blisters, Ma. Are you going to keep interrogating us all Christmas or let us inside?"

Her mother shot her a _this-isn't-over-young-lady_ glare, and stepped aside, letting them come into the house.

Alek was surprised by how large Deryn's family was. The room was crowded with people, with barely enough room for the two, plus Mrs. Sharp, to squeeze in. Alek fidgeted nervously. He hadn't expected Deryn to have so many relatives.

Mrs. Sharp bent down to hiss between the two. "Deryn, come help me and your Auntie Margaret in the kitchen. The Clanker here can manage by himself."

Deryn, despite her discomfort, gave her mother a disbelieving look. Alek couldn't believe it either. Had Mrs. Sharp just asked Deryn to_ cook_? Everyone, _everyone_ knew that Deryn couldn't cook to save her life. Alek and Dr. Barlow had learned that, unfortunately too late, when she had made them dinner in London.

"You want me…working in the kitchen…making food that people…are going to eat?" Deryn asked doubtfully.

"Yes! Deryn Sharp, come with me _now_." Ma Sharp gripped her arm and dragged her to the kitchen, leaving Alek to fend for himself with a roomful of people that were now gaping at him.

The little girl who had originally opened the door broke the silence by walking up and poking Alek in the leg. "Are you Deryn's boyfriend?" she asked loudly.

Alek winced inwardly. He was sure that Deryn could hear and was probably laughing her head off in the kitchen. Everyone was watching. And he was never good with children. What was he going to do?

Something else came to his rescue. There was a clattering sound coming from the direction of the kitchen, followed by a string of curse words from Deryn. Every head turned toward the noise, most in shock at the language, though Alek could have sworn that Deryn's brother, Jaspert, was grinning. The little girl's eyes lit up and she ran off to the kitchen, to do who knows what there. Alek was just glad that she had left him alone.

As soon as the girl left, an elderly lady hobbled up to Alek. "Who are you?" she asked croakily.

Alek bowed slightly and introduced himself to her. "I'm Alek, ma'am. Deryn invited me here for Christmas."

She stared at him uncomprehendingly, and then asked, "What? You have to speak up, lad. I can't hear it when you whisper."

Alek hadn't been whispering, but he didn't point that out to her. "I'm Alek," he said repeating his message slightly louder.

"Hello, Alexis," the woman said. "Who's this?" she asked, gesturing to Bovril.

"Bovril," the creature answered her. "Auntie Clarence," it giggled in Alek's ear.

Auntie Clarence stepped closer. "A talking squirrel," she muttered, examining it. Bovril looked offended – as offended as a fabricated perspicacious loris could be, that is.

"Not a squirrel," it said indignantly. "A loris."

The woman stared blankly, then burst out laughing. Without another word to Alek or Bovril, she hobbled off, continuing to giggle to herself.

When she was gone, Bovril leaned towards Alek's ear. "Absolutely bonkers," he quoted softly.

Alek nodded solemnly. "Indeed," he agreed.

A voice behind them startled Alek. "So you've met Auntie Clarence," Deryn said. "What did you think of her? Barking mad, ain't she?"

"I thought you were in the kitchen? How'd you escape?" Alek asked.

Deryn hung her head in mock shame. "Apparently I'm as terrible a cook as I am a lady. Ma kicked me out after I spilled potatoes all over her barking 'new dress!'" She grinned. "And because my little cousin Amelia started to learn some new words from the Service listening to me in the kitchen."

Alek laughed and the loris on his shoulder chuckled. Jaspert noticed the two talking and sidled up next to Alek.

"So, did Ma rag on you for wearing trousers yet?" he asked his little sister.

Deryn laughed. "Not yet. She's too barking busy screaming at me for everything else. In the five minutes I've been in that room, I've poured mashed potatoes down her dress front, started the stuffing on fire, and become a permanent bad influence on Amelia. But she'll get around to it, don't worry."

` Jaspert started to ask her questions about her time on the _Leviathan,_ which Alek listened intently to and offered comments when he could. But soon the conversation strayed to their early lives in Glasgow and while the sibling talked, Alek started to feel left out.

He wandered around the sitting room – making sure to avoid Auntie Clarence, who at the moment was talking very loudly to an enormous cat about tea cozies and ice skating yellow ducks. He saw the little girl, Amelia, running around screeching things like "Blisters!" and "Barking spiders!" and other things bound to get Deryn in trouble. _Christmas was never like this in Austria… _he thought. But then again, Christmases in the palace weren't so great either. It probably had something to do with the fact that his entire family had hated his father and mother.

More trouble with Deryn. Alek could tell before he turned around.

"No! You are not going to stay in Glasgow for the entire weekend dressed in _trousers_! You're coming with me, young lady!"

Alek turned just to see Mrs. Sharp towing Deryn out of the room again and up a set of stairs. He met eyes with Deryn and tried to contain his laughter, knowing she'd probably murder him in his sleep if he so much as smiled. She looked absolutely miserable.

"I thought I burned this dress," Deryn muttered under her breath. Ma had squeezed her into one of her old dresses, complete with a corset and everything. "Do I have to wear the corset?" she complained. "I feel like I'm going to explode." Barking spiders, if Volger or Lilit could see her now, she'd never hear the end of it.

Mrs. Sharp looked horrified. "Of course you have to wear the corset! Actually act like a woman for once, Deryn. Now what did you do to your hair? Surely it should have started to grow back by now!"

It _had_ started to grow back several times and Deryn had just kept hacking it off with a pair of scissors, but she'd be absolutely mad if she even _considered _telling her ma that. "I don't know," she muttered instead.

Mrs. Sharp fluffed it up, then smoothed it out, and finally proclaimed it hopeless. "I give up. We're missing supper, we'd better get downstairs."

"You don't expect me to go downstairs in this thing, do you?" The dress wasrather girly, all flounces and ribbons, and Deryn found it completely disgusting. And the thought of Alek seeing her in a dress, after all those years, and in a dress like _this one_, to make it worse – terrifying.

But Deryn had learned years ago that there was no contradicting her mother once she had decided something, so she was dragged down the stairs in her holiday finery.

_And _this, she thought, _is why Jaspert never came home for Christmas._

**I hope it sounds okay. ****Dappledvine**** requested that I put in the aunties' cat, and it's based off my own cat. The cat may, or may not, have a bigger part in the next chapter. I can't figure out if it's going to try to eat Bovril or do something else. Suggestions are welcome. Please review! **

**(P.S. Did ya'll catch the potato reference?)**


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